Posts tagged snatch

I went and did some de-loading today. I am feeling better but still sore and just feeling meh about my training. I am trying to mix it up a bit –doing endurance and want to start doing some strength training as well and then splatter in some regular CrossFit for a while. Mix it up — see how my body will respond to a different approach for a while.

Have you read the story about the three kidnapped women who have been found alive? My heart breaks for them, all the years they have lost, the fear they lived in, the completely craziness they had to witness and live through. Hopefully, they will be able to acclimate back into their family’s lives and get the help they will no doubt need.

I have been buying flowers the past few weeks –to brighten up the house and also to help brighten up the family. I think even if you aren’t depressed or feeling low, staying connected to beauty, nature and wonder is key in staying centered and at peace. It’s all a part of self care –continuing to take care of yourself and making you and your family the priority! And come on–flowers are cheap therapy!

Personally I buy flowers weekly during my grocery shopping..relatively inexpensive way to brighten up your house and your mood! And I also stop and notice flowers and nature around me.

The world is a really pretty place if we stop and pay attention!

I often lose sight of how I am really feeling inside because my fitness routine is so ingrained and so much a part of who I am. I miss being at the gym when I am not there and I know that people look to me to help spur their own journey to getting fit and healthy. The reality is that sometimes I do experience burn out and need time off.

And just like Dizzle says — it’s good to step away, get some real rest and get re-energized and pumped about heading back in. I have noticed that I havent made huge gains in certain areas and quite frankly am not too pumped about even trying. That’s when I know there is an issue.

The one thing I have been pumped about is running –getting to figure out my damn running form. I saw a bunch of pics from my 200 mile relay this weekend and man — I don’t lean. Don’t get how to lean even when I think I am leaning. I am straight up and down. Proof is in the pictures. Now some of that was due to sheer exhaustion but man — I am fired up to figure it out. So I am going to either take a few solid days off or de-load and just focus on form for the next few weeks to refuel my inspiration tank so I can feel pumped up again!

I need a vacation –

warmup 600m jog DROM Burgener Warmup

skill Snatch OHS

wod 1 Hang Snatch 1 OHS 2 HS 2 OHS

all the way to 11. (I went to 8 until I ran out of time and stuck with a 53# to work on Snatch form)

It was a super busy weekend –not only did I coach on Saturday and take pics for the competition held at CrossFit Impavidus, I also attended an Olympic Lifting workshop with one of my favorite coaches Nate. We worked on the snatch lift — two hours of working on technique. It wore me out but it was worth it. I learned a ton and definitely feel more confident with that lift –now I need to practice.

Here are some pics I took of the Capital Affiliate League competition over this weekend (Part One and Two).

I read a few articles over the past week that have made me think about some stuff. The first one is:

I’m not sure I like the title because there are a lot of women out there that work out like this author did all the time. I think the title comes from the fact that many women still don’t want to consider lifting weights and strength training as part of their training program. The fear of bulkiness and ‘looking like a dude’ keep them from using barbells and dumbbells in heavy weights. The moral of the article is go ahead, ladies — don’t fear strength training. I promise you wont look like a dude —

I like the tone of this article — you are built a certain way and while you can definitely strive to be the best you can –there are some things in life that you can’t change. Overall body type is one — I will never be a thin twiggy like person but I certainly can be the best shape for my body type.

We all have a certain body shape. One that is hardwired into our DNA. No amount of dieting or random exercise will change it. And the body shape we have will determine how we lay down fat on our bodies.

This past weekend I kind of went a little crazy and had frozen yogurt Thurs and Friday night! We were hanging with the kids and it just felt like the right thing to do — but here’s where I learned a lesson.

Before I went gluten/dairy free and mostly Paleo, I had eczema on my hands. In the winter it was the worst – crusted dry skin over my knuckles and majorly dry, itchy legs. Then I went Paleo –got rid of dairy almost 100% and gluten free and it went away. No Lie. Went completely away. Now, I have ice cream/yogurt once in a while –no big deal. I can’t remember though the last time I had it 2 days in a row like that — usually its one day and then I get right back on track. Well Saturday morning I woke up, and my hands had little tiny blisters. I haven’t seen them on my hands in quite some time and realized that it’s part of the eczema I used to suffer from — and it’s called Dyshidrosis. And dairy sensitivity can indeed cause a flare up! So-there you go. I had 2 days of dairy which isn’t common for me and my body was like Whoa! It’s amazing how your body responds to things and how it’s so identifiable once you eliminate certain foods.

Today’s workout —

Warmup 30 DUs Mobility Stretching Sanson Warmup burgener warmup

SKill Oly Lift – Snatch

WOD

7×1 Snatch

I did horrible in this — I need to seriously work on my snatch lift. It was so frustrating to me that i don’t even want to talk about it. I know I need to practice it because it’s technique that is key.

I should have listened to my body this morning and stayed in bed. I just didn’t have it in me to push this morning — but I am glad I went. If you don’t follow the CrossFit Games open, the 2nd workout was announced last night. It’s the Snatch! It’s a hard lift for sure– so we spent some skill time working on it. I gotta tell ya though – I am still spent from pushing so hard on Saturday. My muscles are burning — so definitely tomorrow will be a rest day but I wish I had a few more days together to just let my body heal. It really showed in the WOD today — I was slow and sluggish.

Warmupx2 10 push ups 10 squats 10 Air Squats

Skill Snatch

WOD

15 min AMRAP

30 Dbl Unders 20 KB Swings 5 Burpees

Rounds: 4+30DUs

Yesterday, I had a meeting in DC at the Capitol. Lunch was provided. It was standard fare — deli meat, cheese & bread for sandwiches, pasta salad, brownies & cookies, soda, water and juice. No vegetables except for tomato and onions for sandwich fixins. Oh there were pickles too! What does someone who eats like I do when I see that? Well — the only thing I could do was grab some deli meat a dab of mustard. Luckily, I brought an apple in my purse so I ate that as well. However, the chocolate chip cookies looked good and in a moment of weakness, I ate one, then two. No big deal right?

Well I gotta tell you – this morning I woke up congested and sluggish and slept horribly. Now I am sure you are thinking –really from 2 cookies?? Well when you don’t eat that sort of processed food in your normal life, you become sensitive to it and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I of course wonder why I did it? It wasn’t worth it – I mean the cookies were yummy but they weren’t the end all, be all type. I want to remember the feeling this morning, so when that comes around again, I will at least be more aware during the choice I make.

Some people say why would you want to put yourself in a situation where eating treats makes you feel so horrible? Is it worth it? You can’t even enjoy a few cookies without it affecting you — well I can see that perspective — but I also know I feel FANTASTIC when i don’t eat that shit. And something you can’t deny is how much what you put in your body affects everything else you do — sleep, attention, affection, mood, relationships not to mention HEALTH. It’s just food for thought –

It’s raining AGAIN. I woke up with a bad headache too and figured the best way to cure it was to head out for my workout and get the blood flowing. Sure enough, I’m done and have no headache. Another benefit to exercise!

Not sure what’s going on with me — I have not been able to get a good night’s sleep the last two nights. I wonder if it was the non paleo eating I did over the past weekend. That really tends to affect my sleeping patterns. I love getting my Zzz’s, so when I don’t get enough — its rough the rest of the day.

We have had a lot of new athletes at CrossFit Impavidus and one thing seems to keep coming up — how fun what we do is. I have said it before — its the kind of fun you had when you were a kid on the playground. I was never terribly active as you know, but I do have fond memories of hanging out during recess on the playground. It’s like going to a playground every morning — your friends are there, you laugh, you challenge yourself, you workout. Some days are harder than others — some are perfect. I really wish everyone would try it. It really is the key for me – im not bored. I can’t even imagine going to a regular gym and getting on a treadmill anymore.

This morning we did a bit of lifting -the snatch. It’s a tough lift and we did a lot of laughing and helping one another. I chose to go lighter in weight only because my form is off. I need to work on the form, to develop some muscle memory and then will attempt it with heavier weights.

Where else but CrossFit can you use the word Snatch and not get in trouble? It’s funny how many terms that are used in weightlifting that are traditionally seen as sexual or male-centric. I’m not even going to mention them here — we all know which ones I am talking about. What is it about male-dominated sports/fitness that dictates this? Don’t even bother answering that — I already know.

Today’s workout was indeed the snatch.

Warmup Burgener Warmup – which is basically progression into a muscle snatch

Skill Snatch Muscle Snatch

WOD 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 53-53-53-53-63-63-63# 2m Double Unders = 30

I spent a lot of time working on form with the snatch — getting under the bar because that’s really where my form messes up. I can muscle up a lot of weight, until I get to a point where it’s too heavy and it becomes clear that my form is off. So until I am comfortable with the actual technique, my weight won’t be changing.

I’m not going to lie — getting back on the Paleo wagon has been tough since heading out on vacation. I didn’t go hog wild during my trip but certainly didn’t do my Paleo focused eating. Arizona is made for Mango margaritas, guacamole, chips, salsa and ice cream. At least in my excuse created mind. I am not of the mind that you can’t live a life that enjoys food once in a while — I was taking a break from my daily life and that means letting loose with the idea that coming back to my life includes getting back to my passions and focus. So – I returned feeling renewed and ready to go back to the routine. It has been proving a bit difficult. It’s almost like ‘once you open that door, it’s hard to close again’.

Yesterday was my 13th wedding anniversary — Scott and I got married in Las Vegas Nevada, 13 years ago. Who knew back then that we would turn out to be 2 suburbia folk, working white collar jobs, raising 2 great kids? Well – in all honesty, my life has more than I thought was possible for me — I am lucky to have so much in my life! We went out to dinner last night and that included dessert! So — now that I realize that it’s a slippery slope – I need to commit to getting back on the straight and narrow. I can feel how different I feel and I don’t mean that in a good way.

I was solo today during the workout so Coach Jerry and I worked a lot on snatch progressions. I seemed to have a break thru with them after getting super frustrated time after time which is great! It’s the small successes that add up — and we spent a considerable amount of time on the skill part today. So much so, that we didn’t leave a lot of time to do the WOD, so I ended up doing 3 rounds before my form broke down and I stopped. I started off with 53lbs and ended up doing 45lbs during the WOD — scaling so that I could do it with proper form makes a difference!

Before I left, I also did some handstands and Coach Jerry gave me some pointers about doing handstand push ups now that my handstands are improving. I have been practicing a lot and he shared with me this quote:

Great workout at Crossfit Impavidus this morning. Going to a new box is like getting used to a new boyfriend. They don’t know much about you yet, they think they like you, you have stuff in common but it’s still not super comfortable. I am sure it will be pretty soon. It’s a good group working out and Coach Nick is awesome. It will take some time for me to feel completely at home but I can tell I will. Also, I get an extra 15m of sleep because the class starts 15m later, and it’s much closer — so no 15m drive for me! I may even get an extra 25m sleep once I get used to this new routine. More sleep is a win in my book!

When I got there and saw the actual WOD was 12m, the first thought was that’s it!!?, but after doing it — it kicks your butt. I burned more calories doing that workout in 12m than I did in my old camp, although I did do heavier weights in the latter. Crossfit’s philosophy is keep moving and when I used to do heavier weights, I had to stop often because it was simply too heavy. Lowering the weights allows me to keep moving, which allows me to burn more calories.

Warmup 20 jump jacks burgener warm up 10 push ups PVC Pass Thrus

Skill Snatch

WOD AMRAP 50ft Walking Lunges w/25lb Plate Snatch 45lb

7 Rounds completed

I also practiced Double Unders again and got a few before my jump rope broke in two. How powerful am I? Ha!